Pilots make second bid to save Easton's Braden, as developer waits in the wings

Friday

Aug 8, 2014 at 7:59 AMAug 8, 2014 at 8:01 AM

Peter Hall

A group of pilots who hope to keep Braden Airpark open have offered to buy the Forks Township airfield for a second time.

But if their proposal doesn't take flight, property developer J.G. Petrucci Co. has lined up behind them with a plan to buy the land for future building projects.

The two bids were the only ones the Lehigh-Northampton Airport Authority received before a deadline Thursday, and the details of the proposals will likely remain under wraps until the authority's next board meeting in September, Executive Director Charles Everett said.

The pilots' earlier offer to buy the single-runway airport off Sullivan Trail for $1.8 million was rejected because it was nowhere near the $3 million asking price.

This time, said Ed Lozano, a leader in the pilots group, the pilots have assembled the cash needed to pay off the airport's debts. He wouldn't discuss details of the offer before airport authority officials have a chance to review them.

"We have been able to put together a deal that addresses their financial demands, takes the operational issue off their hands and keeps the field open for the flying public," Lozano said.

For the pilots' plan to succeed, however, they need a government partner, and so far, none has stepped forward. Forks officials have said they're not interested in acquiring the airport, Everett said, and Northampton County leaders have been silent on the question. Executive John Brown didn't return a call.

Without a government stakeholder, the airport would lose its nonprofit status, and the authority would be responsible for repaying between $1.4 million and $2.8 million in PennDOT-issued grants for improvements at the airport.

Martin Till, regional president for J.G. Petrucci, said the company is interested in buying the 72-acre airport only if the authority and pilots conclude it's unfeasible to keep operating the airfield.

"We don't have a horse in the race whether it remains open as an airport — that's between the authority and the pilots," he said. "We're not competing with the pilots."

Till declined to reveal specifics of the company's offer.

With a new Route 33 interchange under construction about a mile away, the location is attractive for new construction. But if J.G. Petrucci does buy the land, it would be a speculative move and likely also contingent on a zoning change, Till said.

"We'd have to sit down with the township," Till said. "We don't have a user ready to go. We don't have any plans ready to go. We think it's a good location, and it's in the right place."

Everett has said the authority wants to decide by October, because the property needs $500,000 worth of capital improvements.

The authority, which also operates Lehigh Valley International Airport in Hanover Township, Lehigh County, and Queen City Airport in Allentown, can no longer justify spending to keep Braden open for just 30 light-aircraft operators, officials say.

Other options, including leasing the airport, closing it and mothballing the facilities, selling only a portion of the property or increasing fees for small-plane operators at all three airports, remain on the table, Everett said.

But a request for proposals from fixed-base operators to sell fuel and offer flight services attracted no bidders last month.